Pipelines have long been used for conducting liquids and gases from one location to another. With the advent of the petroleum industry, pipelines are commonly used for transporting hydrocarbon products and particularly for moving crude oil from field locations to refineries or where crude oil is moved for further delivery, such as by ships, tank cars and so forth. In addition to moving crude oil, pipelines are frequently employed in the petroleum industry for moving natural gas from production areas to gas plants and areas of consumption.
Whether moving hydrocarbon liquids or gases, there is a tendency for contaminants to adhere to the wall of the pipeline. As an example, crude oil frequently carries with it paraffin contents that tend to deposit on the pipeline interior walls. Further, since most pipelines are made of steel, rust has a tendency to form on interior pipeline walls.
For these and various other reasons, it is important for efficiency purposes that pipeline walls be periodically cleaned and this is most effectively accomplished by periodically scraping the interior walls of the pipeline.
The present invention is a scraping pig that is configured to be moved by fluid flow through a pipeline.
For additional information relating to this invention, reference may be had to the following previously issued United States patents.
Pat. No.InventorTitle3,576,043ZongkerPipeline Pig With Spring-Mounted Scrapers4,081,875NishinoScale Removal Device4,083,074CurtisMultipurpose Pipeline Pig4,244,073SagawaPipeline Pig4,603,449KnappUnitized Pig Body For Parafin Removal4,907,314KershawPipeline Pig5,379,475SivacoeScraper For A Pipe Pig5,384,929SmithPig For Use In Cleaning The Interior Wall Of A Pipeline5,457,841MintonCleaning Pig For Pipeline Of Varying Diameter5,600,863CurranPipe Scraper Assembly6,038,725KnappUnicast Paraffin Removing Pipeline Pig Incorporating MultipleDiameter and Thickness Discs and Having A Central BendingPortion For Turns6,065,174LaymonParabolic Scraper For A Pipeline Pig6,145,150KnappMulti-Dimensional Pig Including Wiper Disk Permitting PassageThrough6,276,017Lino et al.Multisize Bidirectional Scraping Device6,308,363Lino et al.Modular Multisize Bidirection Scraping Device6,792,641LakerPipeline Pig7,000,280KnappAggressive Pipeline Pig2003/0041400KnappMolded Pipeline Pig With Hardness Variations2003/0183022Sapelnikov et al.Sensors Carrier For In-Tube Inspection Scraper2007/0113362Lino et al.Structured Foam Pig2008/0141474Kapustin et al.Device For Cleaning Multidiameter Pipelines